In summary, pregnancy discrimination is employment discrimination experienced by a pregnant woman from their employer.
Usually, a woman is dismissed from her job or experiences other discrimination only due to her pregnancy or intention to become pregnant.
The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 protects pregnant women against the pregnancy discrimination. It provides them with protection against unfair treatment and being fired from a job just because of pregnancy.
Types of Pregnancy discrimination
Unfavourable treatment:
In this type of discrimination:
- An employer can’t discriminate a woman because she is pregnant.
- An employee can’t witness loss because of her pregnancy.
- She can’t suffer unfair treatment due to her pregnancy.
Victimisation:
In this type of discrimination:
- An employee is believed to be a victim of harassment, harm or damage just because she supports a complaint of discrimination.
- In victimisation, the employee suffers loss because she becomes evidence of a complaint about discrimination.
Rights of an employee:
As an employee, you can:
- Get protection against unfair treatment and unfair dismissal.
- Get treated in the same manner as other job applicants.
- Take care of herself and baby health
- Enjoy the right to reasonable paid time off work duties for her antenatal care
If you have faced pregnancy discrimination in your workplace, meet a professional employment solicitor and file a complaint against your employer.
